Chris Manak, also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, founder of Stones Throw Records, is one of the people behind the new music focused Highland Park bar, Gold Line, seen here inside the bar on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. The bar features more than 7,500 vinyl records from Manak’s personal collection. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

With his massive collection of vinyl records and his label, Stones Throw Records, Manak and his studio have been in the heart of Highland Park for the past 15 years, and now Manak is expanding and sharing his love of music with his new project, a bar dubbed Gold Line.

“I decided to open a bar because there are not enough places in L.A. that play the music my friends and I personally would like to hear, and we had an opportunity in the Stones Throw building to do it,” Manak said. “It’s really more just a place to put a bunch of my records and have a bunch of my DJ friends spin them.”

The new Highland Park bar, Gold Line, features more than 7,500 vinyl records from the private collection of Chris Manak, also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, seen here on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

New Highland Park bar, Gold Line, features more than 7,500 vinyl records from the private collection of Chris Manak, also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, seen here on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

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“The 56,” one of the mixed-drinks served up at the new Highland Park bar, Gold Line, which features more than 7,500 vinyl records from the private collection of Chris Manak, also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, seen here on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

Chris Manak, also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, founder of Stones Throw Records, is one of the people behind the new music focused Highland Park bar, Gold Line, seen here inside the bar on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. The bar features more than 7,500 vinyl records from Manak’s personal collection. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

New Highland Park bar, Gold Line, features more than 7,500 vinyl records from the private collection of Chris Manak, also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, seen here on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

New Highland Park bar, Gold Line, features more than 7,500 vinyl records from the private collection of Chris Manak, also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, seen here on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

New Highland Park bar, Gold Line, features more than 7,500 vinyl records from the private collection of Chris Manak, also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, seen here on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

New Highland Park bar, Gold Line, which features more than 7,500 vinyl records from the private collection of Chris Manak, also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, also houses a vintage Rock-Ola jukebox, seen here on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

New Highland Park bar, Gold Line (left), features more than 7,500 vinyl records from the private collection of Chris Manak, also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, seen here on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

New Highland Park bar, Gold Line, features more than 7,500 vinyl records from the private collection of Chris Manak, also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, seen here on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

Chris Manak, also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, founder of Stones Throw Records, is one of the people behind the new music focused Highland Park bar, Gold Line, seen here inside the bar on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. The bar features more than 7,500 vinyl records from Manak’s personal collection. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

New Highland Park bar, Gold Line, features more than 7,500 vinyl records from the private collection of Chris Manak, also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, seen here on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

Chris Manak, also known as Peanut Butter Wolf, founder of Stones Throw Records, behind the DJ booth at the new music focused Highland Park bar, Gold Line, seen here on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. The bar features more than 7,500 vinyl records from Manak’s personal collection. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

Gold Line, downstairs from Stones Throw Records at 5607 Figueroa Avenue, houses 7,500 records from Manak’s collection. Consisting of music from the 1960s through today, the vinyl runs the gamut of rock, soul, rap, jazz, reggae, world, and electronic, plus a host of subgenres.

“I wanted to keep things rather simple, like how a medium-sized used record store would be organized,” Manak said, adding that patrons wouldn’t be hearing “songs that you’ve heard a million times” before. Manak said he has a long list of DJs he plans to invite to spin at Gold Line, but they’ll be asked to work with the collection and agree not to bring in their own records or computers.

“Of course, all the records released on the label will be regularly played in the bar and the DJs associated with the label will spin at it, including guys who live in Highland Park, like J Rocc and Eric Coleman, who was the photographer for albums like ‘Madvillain,’ which was recorded up the street in my former house in Mount Washington, and Dam-Funk, who’s an L.A. native, but grew up in Pasadena,” Manak said.

A great record collection alone doesn’t make a bar, though. Manak partnered with Stones Throw Records general manager Jason McGuire and restaurateur Tyler Bell to bring the project to life.

Bell and his wife, set decorator Sara Philpott, and Jeffrey Kurt Inc. handled Gold Line’s interior design. Taking a cue from local architecture, as well as old recording studios and Japanese record bars, the venue boasts walnut woodwork, stained glass and vintage pendant lights. The walls are graced with old acoustic panels and vintage black and white press photos of musicians included in Manak’s record collection. The space is filled with sectional sofas and a Rock-Ola 442 jukebox, plus a vintage hi-fi sound system.

Gold Line’s drink menu highlights highballs and three-part cocktails, along with a list of whiskeys, mezcals, cognacs and wines and a selection of craft beers.

“Honestly, if it were completely up to me, it would just be beer, wine, and mainly two-part mixed drinks like whiskey soda or gin and tonic. I personally prefer a simple menu when I’m in a bar because larger menus get overwhelming and make it hard to decide on anything. That being said, our bartenders are well-trained mixologists that have been carefully selected to make you whatever you want and there will be some fancier drink specials on the menu too for people who wanna try something different,” Manak said.

There isn’t any food available at Gold LIne, but you are always welcome to make a music request, Manak said.

Michelle Mills has been an entertainment and features reporter for the Southern California News Group since 1999. She has interviewed such notables as Weird Al Yankovic, Glen Campbell, Alice Cooper, Debbie Allen, Ernest Borgnine (during an earthquake) and Adam Young (Owl City). She was the 31st Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade Queen reigning 2007-2009. She is a professional belly dancer (swordwork is her specialty) and also studies Polynesian and Tahitian dance.